"The unemployment rate was 4.9%, unchanged compared with March to May 2016 but down from 5.4% for a year earlier," the ONS' release said, noting that the number of unemployed and employed people both increased during the period.

Employment in the UK also remained at its highest level since records formally began in 1971 — 74.5%, and so far, any impact from the vote to leave the European Union looks to be limited.

Here is the chart:

ONS

And here is the unemployment chart:

ONS

Not only did unemployment remain at record lows, and employment at record highs, the number of people claiming benefits increased by less than expected. Economists had forecast an increase of 3,000 people claiming benefits between August and September, but the Claimant Count actually only increased by 700 people.

To add the relatively strong data, wage growth in the UK was higher than had been expected. Economists predicted wage growth would come in at 2.1% in August, but the ONS' data showed a 2.3% rise.

In their July 13 note, reassuringly titled "Mayday! Mayday!" Credit Suisse's Boussie et al. also note that they expect rising unemployment to trigger a slackening of the "robust" consumer sector, which in turn could cause even more serious problems for the economy.